A total of nine riders formed the breakaway, including the likes of Lennard Kämna, Larry Warbasse and best placed in the GC at just 47 seconds down, Raúl García Pierna.
As the race took on the Picon Blanco, Jumbo-Visma upped the pace at the front of the peloton, whilst simultaneously, García Pierna attacked from the breakaway.
With just over 41km to go, race leader Attila Valter was dropped by the peloton, seemingly ensuring a new leader by the end of the day.
The pace was so high it didn't take long before García Pierna was caught and passed leaving four riders up front, Primoz Roglic and UAE Team Emirates trio, George Bennett,
Adam Yates and Jay Vine.
As Bennett and Vine dropped away after setting the pace, an incredible ride from
Damien Howson ensured that Yates and Roglic would have company at the top of the climb.
Although
Aleksandr Vlasov was able to chase onto the leaders during the descent, Vine crashed hard as he rounded one of the corners.
It was Yates who won the intermediate sprint, taking the bonus seconds on offer but noticeably, Roglic decided not to get involved with under 10km to go to the line.
Over the final climb of the day and all four were still locked together. As the cat and mouse games began with a few hundred metres left it was Adam Yates who launched first.
Primoz Roglic though fired his way around the Brit to take the stage win and the overall lead.